Classification and evolution of the genus Phymatophaea Pascoe from New Zealand and New Caledonia (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Enopliinae)

Abstract

The genus Phymatophaea Pascoe is revised here for the first time. It consists of 22 species, 21 from New Zealand and one from New Caledonia. Ten species are described as new: P. aquila, P. auripila, P. caledonia, P. deirolinea, P. enodis, P. earlyi, P. insula, P. maorias, P. tracheloglaba, and P. watti. Of the 25 nominal species listed in Corporaal's world catalogue 12 are considered valid species: P. atrata Broun, P. breviclava Broun, P. guttigera (Waterhouse), P.fuscitarsis Broun, P. hudsoni Broun, P. longula Sharp, P. lugubris Broun, P. oconnori Broun, P. opacula Broun, P. opilioides (Pascoe), P. pustulifera (Westwood), and P. testacea Broun. Lectotypes are designated for all valid previously published species except: P. breviclava Broun, P. fuscitarsis Broun, and P. opacula Broun, whose primary types are based on holotypes. Twelve new synonymies are proposed, which are as follows: the junior synonym of P. atrata Broun is P. griseipennis Broun; of P. guttigera are P. brevicollis Broun, P. dorsalis Broun, P. formosa Broun, P. ignea Broun, P. nigricornis Broun, P. picta Broun, and P. viridans Broun; of P. hudsoni Broun is P.fulvipalpis Brown; of P. opacula Broun is P. sculptipennis Broun; of P. opilioides (Pascoe) is P. apicalis Broun; and of P. pustulifera (Westwood) is P. abnormis Broun.

Phymatophaea species are classified into seven species groups (see Table 1) which are considerably different morphologically. The North Island is apparently more speciose than the South Island although it is acknowledged that this may reflect collecting bias.

Intraspecific variation in colour is prominent in the genus, particularly in the guttigera group. Phymatophaea are thought to be predators of lignicolous insects with several species apparently members of mimetic complexes. Five synapotypies distinguish Phymatophaea: antennal club sex dimorphic, 9th antennomere subtrapezoidal, profemora robust, one pair of mesodermal male accessory glands, and tegminal plates slender. The substantial morphologic diversity among the species groups is interpreted as a manifestation of extensive evolution, antiquity of the groups, considerable extinctions, and a paleohistory that may date back to Gondwana.

Keywords:

• checkered beetles
• Cleridae
• Coleoptera
• Enopliinae
• natural history
• New Zealand
• phylogeny
• Phymatophaea
• taxonomy
• zoogeography

Notes

Professor of Biology, Kansas Wesleyan University, 100 East Claflin Avenue, Salina, Kansas, 67401–6196, USA. [email protected]